Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

by Heather on February 2, 2011

The weekend before last, I attended my friends’ son’s first birthday party. Their little guy’s name is Rhys, so the clever folks that they are, Reese’s peanut butter cups were a necessary part of the celebration. Well, not having a Rhys at this home didn’t stop me from making a batch as soon as I could. Last week, I went to Target and picked up a bag of the cups, along with a mini muffin tin (a perfect excuse to finally get one!). Then, my sister came into town. And, 3/4 of the bag had already been eaten. Oops. It was just me, too, who couldn’t stop snacking. Back to Target we went. Thankfully, I had a Target coupon for $1 off each bag And, I got the dark chocolate ones, so they’re healthier anyway, right?

One of my favorite cookies my mom would make were peanut butter blossoms. You know, the peanut butter cookies with a Hershey’s Kiss in the center? These slightly remind me of them, but are about 500 times better. Sorry, Mom, but I’m sure if you made these they’d taste even better than mine! The cookie envelops the pb cup with a sweet dough that cannot be beat. I like to dig out the cup as I bite in, then eat the leftover chocolate with the cookie. You can use any flavor of Reese’s mini cups (I wonder how the white chocolate would work?). I just love the dark ones. The chocolate is so smooth and rich.

If you don’t have a mini muffin tin, you definitely can just roll out the dough on a regular cookie sheet and otherwise follow the recipe. After baking for 8 minutes, do take them out right away. They may seem a tad bit undercooked, but believe me, they’re not. Also, it takes some time for the pb cups to set in the cookies. After you add the cups to the cookies, but before taking them out of the pan, stick them in the freezer for a few minutes to get them to set faster.

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Stir together the flour, salt and baking soda; set aside. Cream together the butter, sugar, peanut butter and brown sugar until fluffy. Beat in the egg, vanilla and milk. Add the flour mixture; mix well. Shape into balls and place each into an ungreased mini muffin pan. Bake at 375 degrees for 8 minutes. Remove from oven and immediately press a mini peanut butter cup into each ball. Cool and carefully remove from pan.

These are just precious! If I didn’t have a mini muffin tin…I would go out and buy one. I love peanut butter cups! Thank you for sharing such a drool worthy treat with me. I hope you are safe and warm! Have a great Thursday!